


Unexpected Relations

by 1izardwizard, Dau_hu



Category: Guys and Dolls - Damon Runyon, Guys and Dolls - Loesser/Swerling/Burrows
Genre: 1950s, 5+1 Things, Angst, Broadway, Fluff, Gambling, Homophobia, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, New York, New York City, Police, Smoking, Social Issues
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-18
Updated: 2017-06-18
Packaged: 2018-10-20 12:11:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10662321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1izardwizard/pseuds/1izardwizard, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dau_hu/pseuds/Dau_hu
Summary: Lt. Brannigan and Harry the Horse exist in a world of strict social expectations and two totally different social circles, one of cop and criminal, but they cannot deny the one similarity they have - their feelings for each other.Five times Harry  and Lt. Brannigan were confined to their roles, and the one time that they truly faced each other.





	1. The Red Carnation

Lieutenant Brannigan was walking about Broadway when he saw a group of unsavory characters, stopping short when he noticed a certain crapshooter amongst the crowd. He assumed a reproachful attitude as he strode up to them. 

"Well well well, an interesting gathering indeed. The cream of society - Angie the Ox. Society Max. Rusty Charlie. Liver Lips Louie. Hey, Harry the Horse, all the way from Brooklyn." 

He sauntered up to Harry, trying to ignore his rapidly beating heart. Should he dare? He hasn’t seen him back in New York for months. He couldn't keep his eyes away, wanting to swoop down and capture those lips and make them his own. But how could he. They could never be anything more than criminal and cop as defined by society, with the addition of them both being of the same gender. He settled for the next best thing, bending down to smell the red carnation that adorned Harry's chest.

Harry stiffened as Brannigan leaned down to smell his carnation; probably to try and intimidate him. Brannigan’s comforting scent overwhelmed him, however, and he couldn't help but stay still to try to take more of it in. As Brannigan pulled away, Harry couldn't stop himself from leaning forward a bit, desperate for a last fleeting physical touch. He looked to his side, wistfully watching Brannigan chastising the others. He knew it was probably only his wishful thinking that Brannigan treated him a little differently. 

Brannigan could barely hold his amusement after seeing Harry's endearing reaction to his sudden intimacy, but he moved on and maintained his role as he walked down the line of nervous criminals. 

“This looks like a male chorus from “Blossom Time”- what’s the occasion?” said Brannigan as he stared down the row. As the men murmured in panicked tones, searching for a plausible excuse, Benny spoke up as Adelaide conveniently walked by. 

“It’s...it’s a party! A bachelor party! Nathan’s getting married!” The others quickly picked up on the plan and launched into a scattered rendition of ‘For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow’. 

As everyone sang, Harry thought about how to steal more physical contact from Brannigan. He faked enthusiasm and slung his arm around Brannigan’s shoulder, relishing his warmth. It was a perfect situation to pull him closer. Suddenly, a hand found its way around his waist and pulled him close. Harry almost stopped singing in surprise, but instead lowered his hand around Brannigan’s waist as well and held him tight until the (tragically) brief song finished. In that moment, Brannigan suddenly pushed him away and had his usual look of scorn on his face. Harry knew it was only for the festivities of the moment, but he still felt depressed after the sudden rejection. 

Brannigan snapped out of his daze after the song finished and forced himself out of Harry’s embrace. When Harry had suddenly held him close by the shoulders, he couldn’t help but instinctively put his hand around that waist. He scolded himself on his sudden lack of restraint; he was on the job. Mixing up his feelings with his profession would only earn him a broken heart, not to mention the disgrace that was sure to come from the reveal of his sexual orientation. 

Once again, he assumed his grave expression and continued to annoy Nathan Detroit before he left the scene. If only Harry wasn’t associated with guys like him and his damn permanent, floating crap game.


	2. The Save a Soul Mission

Brannigan rushed past the dim streetlights down Broadway as he pursued Nicely Nicely Johnson; he knew that Nathan Detroit was up to something once again. They were probably back at it at the Save-a-Soul Mission. He took a brisk turn before seeing Nicely’s corpulent figure enter the building. 

The bright lights of the mission blinded him for a second as his line of vision focused on everyone crammed into the mission. His adrenaline rushed as he focused on Nicely, but he couldn’t help but recognized the stark green suit of Harry the Horse sitting on one of the benches.

As he ran by the benches, he made quick eye contact with Harry, which apparently, slowed him down enough for Nathan to grab and force him to sit down on the bench, one person away from Harry. His senses were exponentially heightened by the number of criminals surrounding him, but more so the presence of Harry. 

Harry flushed as he sat down after his testification. That lousy Nathan Detroit had no right to force him to embarrass himself. Especially in front of Big Jule. He slumped over and stewed in his own indignation, but sat up with a start as the door to the mission banged open. 

Nicely Nicely Johnson flew in with Brannigan on his heels. He almost rushed past Harry, but made eye contact with him and was surprisingly subdued into sitting down on the bench. Harry tried to focus on what the General was saying but was hyper-aware of the body that was only one person away from him. 

The brief moment of eye contact was seared into his memory, replaying over and over again. He cursed and also thanked the Lord that Society Max was between him and Brannigan; he didn’t know what he would do if he sat next to him. After Nicely Nicely’s drawn-out testimony, Harry watched as Sister Sarah uncharacteristically lied to Brannigan’s face about the group’s whereabouts last night. 

Brannigan surprisingly looked more relieved than he should be, and Harry wondered why that was so. He froze in surprise when Brannigan made eye contact with him again before leaving, an unreadable emotion on his face. During the rest of the prayer meeting, all Harry could think of was him.

 

As they endured Nicely’s testimony, Brannigan immediately was back on edge and ready to persecute them all (except for Harry, of course), but there didn’t seem to be any polite way out of this with all the missionaries present. 

“I’ll do my testifying in court, where I will testify that you ran a crap game here in this Mission last night. Miss Sarah, you were standing there when they came out. You saw them. Aren’t these the fellows?” he asked, due to the standard police protocol. 

“...I never saw them before in my life,” Sarah carefully admitted, and Brannigan was washed over by a sense of relief as Sarah rushed him out. He could let this slide one more time. 

“I never saw crap shooters spend so much time in a Mission. Maybe that’s what they meant by Holy Rollers,” he stated before put on his hat once again. Really, he thanked God for this coincidence. He couldn’t possibly deal with arresting Harry. Brannigan rushed out the door, but not before he met Harry’s alluring blue eyes and sent a slight glance of relief and warmth towards him. He let out a deep breath as he left the building and continued his night patrol. 

The cold breeze magnified the pit of ever present loneliness in his heart as he strode away from the mission, unaware of the equally pining Harry the Horse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! <3


	3. Arrest at the Hot Box

“Hey let’s go check out Adelaide at the Hot Box theater. I got 4 tickets and a gorgeous doll who has an eager friend. What do you say, Harry?” asked Angie the Ox. 

Harry looked up from his paper with the results from today’s horse race. He silently groaned, as he knew this was not going to be something he could refuse without ruining his reputation. Especially in a city like Broadway. 

“Sure. What’ll a guy do without a doll a few days of the week, right?” he replied with a smirk, internally knowing that he was going to regret his decision. He sure did when he saw the doll besides the one that Angie the Ox was giving a kiss on the cheek. She was beautiful, without a doubt, but he didn’t see the appeal. 

“Hey, hun. I hear you’re all the way from Brooklyn,” she whispered as she stepped forward and hugged his arm tightly. She stared up at him with a smile that was supposed to be seductive, and he internally cringed from the overwhelming saccharine scent of her perfume and the sheer amount of makeup on her, swearing that her fake eyelashes would fall off in the slightest breeze. 

Before he even got the chance to reply, he was pulled away by Angie and his date for the night towards the Hot Box Theater, hurrying to see Adelaide perform. Though Harry was dreading his situation, he didn’t know that Lieutenant Brannigan was feeling much more awful only a few feet away. 

 

Brannigan was having the worst night ever. He was patrolling Broadway when he just so happened to find a certain someone outside the Hot Box with a tittering idiot hanging off of his arm. 

He didn’t know why he expected anything less than that, since Harry was definitely as straight as a ruler. An ache appeared within his chest as he watched Harry throw his head back in laughter at something the girl said, his face scrunched adorably from amusement. 

Suddenly, as Brannigan was about to turn away, Harry met his eye. A drastic change overcame him, and his laughter dissolved into a look that seemed helpless. 

He darted his eyes to his date back to Brannigan. His mouth parted, about to say something, but then that irritating girl giggled and pulled him along into the Hot Box. As Harry was dragged through the doors, he gave one last longing look at Brannigan. 

Brannigan stood rooted to the same spot for a few minutes, ruminating on Harry’s strange behavior. 

 

Harry uncomfortably took a seat at the edge of the theater, wanting to avoid the fumes and musk of the theater as much as possible. Clearly, Angie was having a good time with his date, leaning up close and slowly bringing his arm around her waist. Harry’s date suddenly wanted to initiate the same intimacy as she scooted closer to him and looked up at him with lust in her eyes, planting a wet kiss on his jawline. He awkwardly pushed his chair to the side, asking for a drink from the waiter instead, and she let out a huff of impatience. He really couldn’t handle it anymore; Adelaide’s blaring solo was incessantly ringing in his ears and he felt suffocated by the smoke in the room, so he decided to step outside to clear his head. Harry could feel his date boring holes into the back of his head, but he could care less. 

As he lit a cigar outside the theater, he heard the familiar indistinct footsteps of Brannigan. He took a sly look to the side, catching the shine of his badge under the streetlights. 

“Harry the Horse. Leaving that poor date in there, alone? Not a gentleman are you?” Brannigan bitterly interrogated as he stopped under a nearby street light.

“How’d you know- well nevermind that, do me a favor, would you? I can’t stand that doll,” Harry blurted out, getting flustered in the presence of him. He didn’t want this to be a misunderstanding; she was not his taste - Brannigan was. Of course, he could never find out about it; it would only give him more reason to hate Harry.

“Now why would I do a favor for a criminal like you,” Brannigan said with a slight smirk on his face, inwardly understanding the implication that Harry didn’t like that idiot after all. 

“Exactly. I’m a criminal. ‘Arrest’ me and get me out of that date,” said Harry, hoping that Brannigan would have mercy on him tonight. It was already bad enough that he couldn’t even survive a date with a doll - now he was asking a cop for help. It’d tarnish his reputation if any of Nathan’s guys caught him now, so he gave Brannigan a pleading look before giving up and slowly trudging back into the theater, dreading the physical abuse from the attraction that the girl was sure to inflict on him. 

Harry saw his date whispering into Angie’s ear with an irritated expression that suddenly stretched into a wide, superficial smile as she saw Harry approaching. He cringed at the lipstick on her teeth.

“Oh, Harry! You’re  _ back,¨  _ she exclaimed in a sickly, swooning tone as she pulled out his chair for him. 

¨Not for long, Miss. He’s coming with me.¨ said a stern voice behind Harry. He felt a rush of relief as he felt warm hands grabbing his wrists together behind his back. He never had been so happy to be arrested in his life. But he had to feign some ounce of shock and resistance, as was expected from a criminal like him. 

“Lt. Brannigan!” he seethed as he glared behind him and stared at Angie the Ox, hinting that he could handle the situation. Angie gave him a look of gratitude and brought the girls away immediately as Harry was dragged away by Brannigan in a way that was almost too nonchalant. 

Lieutenant Brannigan dragged Harry down a couple blocks from the Hot Box Theater, holding his wrists tightly as he briskly looked for an obscure corner to turn into. He let go, and let out a deep breath, brushing himself off after the tense situation.

“...You actually pulled me out of there,” Harry reluctantly said to break the silence as he stood next to Brannigan in the shining light of the streetlamp, looking away because he was scared to see Brannigan’s expression. He didn’t know what to expect at all. 

 

“Yeah, well, you seemed miserable. Why didn’t you like her? She seemed pretty enough.” Brannigan awkwardly asked.

“She isn’t quite my type,” Harry said, trying to avoid the sensitive topic.

“Well, what is your type?”

“I’ll know.” Harry irritably answered, his voice a reverberating sound in the empty street.    
“I’ve imagined every bit of …” 

A hesitation.

“...  _ him”  _

Brannigan looked up quickly at the surprising pronoun.

“To the strong, arresting glare and the cop badge on his chest,” he slowly whispered and looked Brannigan in the eye. Brannigan quickly grew flushed; even his ears showed a slight tint of pink under the streetlight.

“Harry you don’t mean-” 

Suddenly, a Buick suddenly swerved to the side of the curb, producing a deafening screech as Brannigan’s words were drowned out. 

“Get in, Harry! Broadway’s the last place to get arrested under the law!” yelled Angie with the two dolls in the backseat, indignantly fixing their mussed hair from the wild ride. 

 

Harry paused, not wanting to leave now that he had finally gathered enough courage to vocalize his feelings for Brannigan. He felt something on the sleeve of his suit jacket; Brannigan barely was  holding onto it with a weak grasp, so uncharacteristic of his usual strength. He had a look of utter confusion on his face as he stared at Harry.

 

“HARRY! COME ON!” Angie yelled again. This snapped him back into reality, and with one final glance at Brannigan, he broke unwillingly away. He quickly pulled the sleeve of his arm away, surprised at how fragile Brannigan’s grasp was, and eventually hopped into the car. 

“Gee, thanks Angie. I owe you one.” he managed weakly, trying to hide his supreme and utter disappointment at having to leave. He didn’t want to look back, but he couldn’t help it. There was no need for words; the receding shadow in the rearview mirror told him everything. 

Brannigan stood in the cold night, under the street light once again, feeling warm from the anxiety and close contact with Harry but also numb from the confusion, leaving him as an emotional disaster. He opened his mouth, wanting to ask Harry to elaborate. To explain. He looked into the distance, wanting to run after the car that sped away. The yellow light from the streetlamp was suddenly blurred by an onslaught of tears. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Hope this chapter was a nice break from the original plot line. :)


	4. Full Circle

As Brannigan stared into the distance at the speeding car, he couldn’t help but remember the first time he met Harry. It was in Brooklyn. In fact, this was just how he left: speeding off in a getaway car under the cover of night. Instead of being left with a million questions, he was left with a charming wink that he’d never forget. And he hadn’t. He stared wistfully at the car speeding away, wondering why Harry wasn’t looking back.  
Five years ago, Brannigan had gotten his first post in his hometown of Brooklyn. He was an ambitious and ignorant officer - eager to rid Brooklyn of crime all by himself. One day, as he was strolling through some of the less reputable parts of Brooklyn, he came upon a fight. Four surly men were on top of what looked to be a young man barely in his twenties. He had a lean, strong build but definitely nothing compared to the men that were about to pummel him for seemingly no reason at all. 

“Hey, you guys there stop!” yelled Brannigan as he ran towards the violent fight, ready to defend himself just in case the men were armed.  
Seeing Brannigan approach, the men scoffed and ran off, all agreeing that the young kid wasn’t worth the risk of getting caught now. They had other matters to attend to, and so they ran off as Brannigan kneeled down to assess the injured boy.  
He was shocked, realizing that the youth was actually probably around his age. Even in his injured state he had shockingly beautiful blue eyes and a look of gratitude that almost made Brannigan swoon. 

“What’s your name ? Can I help you in anyway?” Lt. Brannigan asked with a look of genuine concern.

“Oh..officer yeah I’m fine. Harry’s the name. Uh thanks but no thanks,” he awkwardly said out of courtesy and shock that a cop would save a delinquent like him. 

“He’s probably new in this town to not recognize me,” the boy whispered under his breath and smirked as he ran off. 

“Wait!” Brannigan called as the mysterious victim ran off. At least he was able to ensure his safety in the meantime. It didn’t look like he was all that injured anyway, Brannigan pondered just to quell his worries. Why was he so worried about this stranger anyway? And so, he continued his patrol. 

The next night, Brannigan was ecstatic due to the fact that he was just assigned his first night patrol. As he strode down the empty streets with an air of importance, he vowed to be on the lookout for any criminals. Nobody was going to get the best of him.

The sound of splintering wood drew his attention down a seedy-looking alleyway. Brannigan could barely make out an ajar door in the darkness of the night, the moon obscured by clouds, but he slipped through it as quietly as he could- and collided into the sweaty back of an oversized ruffian.  
Suddenly, a hand grabbed the collar of his uniform and hauled him into the center of the room. Brannigan's heartbeat stopped as he found himself in the center of a robbery. There was a person shoveling money out of a safe into a bag that another was holding. Everyone's faces were covered.  
All movement stopped as Brannigan was wrenched into view. Of course, now was the time that the clouds blocking the moon decided to blow away, leaving Brannigan illuminated by the moonlight filtering through a cracked window. 

"Well, well, well, what have we here?" the man holding the bag of money straightened and strode toward Brannigan. 

"I found him sneaking around outside." The hand holding his collar let go and spun him around, pushing him into a chair. Brannigan was petrified; all of his senses were thrown into overdrive as he was tied to the chair with thick rope. There was nothing he could do.  
The man circled around the chair but stopped in front of the chair, squatting down until he was at eye level with Brannigan. 

"What are we going to do with you..." the man holding the bag of money murmured, scanning Brannigan’s face. Brannigan declined to answer, instead staring resolutely at the floor He paused. That voice sounded very familiar and oddly soothing. He shook his head in order to clear his thoughts. 

"Well you know that I’m going to be arresting you," Brannigan shot back at the man, hoping that he couldn’t sense his bluff. He only laughed at that, stopping his rotation to stand in front of Brannigan. His bright blue eyes peered into Brannigan's, and again Brannigan had the nagging urge that he knew the man. The other two men ignored them, instead shoveling the rest of the money into another bag and shoving the broken door out of their way as they left.  
They held eye contact for a little while longer until Brannigan looked down at the ground again, unable to meet those cold eyes any longer. The man smiled at that and advanced until his shoes hit Brannigan’s. His eyes flashed down to the police badge proudly pinned on Brannigan’s chest.  
He reached out and traced the smooth metal, smirking as Brannigan futilely tried to squirm out of his reach. He paused, and instead reached for his face.  
Brannigan froze as a finger tilted his chin upwards, forcing him to glare resentfully once again into the masked man’s eyes. His heartbeat raced. He struggled against the ropes but stopped in shock as the man standing in front of pulled his mask down with one hand, his finger still tilting Brannigan’s chin up. The blue eyes twinkled in amusement as Brannigan saw who stood before him. 

“Harry?” His voice was filled with disbelief and betrayal.

“Thanks for saving me back there, Officer. I’ll be sure to return the favor some day.” Harry winked as he shouldered the bag with a smirk on his annoyingly handsome face. 

Brannigan was left staring in disbelief at his retreating back. It was quite some time before he regained his thought process and took in his surroundings. He was still tied up, his body beginning to feel sore from the uncomfortable wooden chair. 

He aggressively struggled against the stubborn rope until every muscle was protesting, but his only rewards were several rope burns on his wrists and ankles. After about an hour of trying to escape, Brannigan was still firmly stuck where he was. He felt his eyes grow heavy, but fought it off. He couldn’t sleep on the job, even if it was his first night patrol. Despite his own protesting, Brannigan quickly fell into a deep sleep.

Ice. As Brannigan drifted back into consciousness, all he was aware of was how cold he was. There were no windows or a door in the room; Brannigan was essentially exposed to the chilling night elements. His whole body violently, and he was vaguely aware of the hard chair that he was still in. With his mind still drifting through the foggy haze of sleep, remnants of how he got into his current situation started to filter into Brannigan’s mind. A handsome face and a robbery. As his vision cleared, the very face that Brannigan was ruminating about appeared in front of him.

“...Harry?” he murmured sleepily.

Harry paused from his ministrations to the ropes to give Brannigan a small smile. He reached around him to unwrap them from around Brannigan’s torso, effectively giving him a hug. The warmth that emanated from Harry only caused him to be reminded of how cold he was, and soon he was lulled back into the comforts of sleep. 

In the morning, he had woken up in the warmth of the sun with nothing keeping him tied to the chair. He had stretched, walked out the door, and promptly walked out of Brooklyn. He transferred to Manhattan, where (hopefully) Harry would never arrive. 

For two years, Brannigan continued the regime of being a policeman; in such a crime-ridden area, he didn’t have time to think about Harry. He tirelessly worked in exterminating all crime from Manhattan. One day, a glimpse at a newspaper headline jolted Brannigan into memories that he hoped had disappeared. “HARRY THE HORSE STRIKES ON BROADWAY,” read the bold headline - Brannigan didn’t even bother skimming the text. He was back. 

Now back again, shivering underneath the cold light of the streetlight, Brannigan was still just as involved with Harry. There really was no avoiding him. Within all this reminiscing, Lt. Brannigan only now realized the reason behind Harry’s actions back then. He was always so puzzled, but it clicked.  
That night he had returned to release him from the binds. He had returned the favor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the lack of updates! This fanfic will be finished soon. Thank you for those who have read it :)

**Author's Note:**

> This is a work inspired by playing in the pit orchestra for a Guys and Dolls show. It's a collab with Lizboo (my dearest stand partner), who deserves just as much credit!


End file.
